Mixed, Augmented, and Virtual Realities College and University Education Research-Oriented Presentation
Comparing Zoom and VR lessons in Language Education
A comparative study was carried out from April 2021 to January 2022 to determine the effectiveness of interaction using only VR or interaction on the ZOOM platform with young adults from overseas. Both groups took the pre-and-post-OPIc speaking tests and questionnaires. The first VR group (n=60) took part in the 45-minute VR lesson in groups of five or more twice a week during two semesters. Feedback indicated that students’ anxiety levels decreased through the VR lessons, and they gained more confidence in speaking English. There was no significant difference in improvements between pre and post-OPIc speaking tests. However, enthusiastic students made progress in OPIc from level 6 to 8. The second ZOOM interaction group (n=17) took part in the English lessons for two semesters with flipped lessons, including nine invited CCC (Campus Crusade for Christ) members who interacted with the students. Now and then, the members joined the virtual lessons to assist the students in making presentations and discussions, even assessing students’ presentations using the PeerEval software. As a result, the students’ mean scores of the OPIc speaking test improved from 6.7(SD:1.36) to 7.4 (SD:1.97). Finally, detailed feedback from the pre-and-post questionnaires of both groups will be reported.
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Dr. Hiroyuki Obari is Professor Emeritus at Aoyama Gakuin University. He now teaches part-time in the Faculty of Law, Waseda University, and the Tokyo Institute of Technology graduate school. He is a visiting researcher at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST). Born in 1953, he received his B.A. from the University of Oklahoma (Political Science), M.A. from ICU (International Relations), second M.A. from Columbia University, and Ph.D. from the University of Tsukuba (Computer Science). He served as a visiting researcher at the University of Oxford (1998, 2007, 2018~2020). He specializes in CALL, TESOL, Worldview Studies, and EdTech. His recent publications include 1. Obari, H., Lambacher, S., Kikuchi, H. (2022). Exploring the impact of AI on EFL teaching in Japan. In J. Colpaert & G. Stockwell (pp. 84-101). Smart CALL: Personalization, contextualization, & socialization. London: Castledown Publishers.